eries within.
Although greatly ruined, the materials of the whole structure remain, and
might be put together again. It is a grand wreck; the colossal fragments
which have tumbled from the arched proscenium fill the arena, and the rows
of seats, though broken and disjointed, still retain their original order.
It is somewhat more than a semicircle, the radius being about one hundred
and eighty feet. The original height was upwards of fifty feet, and there
were fifty rows of seats in all, each row capable of seating two hundred
persons, so that the number of spectators who could be accommodated was
eight thousand.

The fragments cumbering the arena were enormous, and highly interesting
from their character. There were rich blocks of cornice, ten feet long;
fluted and reeded pillars; great arcs of heavily-carved sculpture, which
appeared to have served as architraves from pillar to pillar, along the
face of the proscenium, where there was every trace of having been a
colonnade; and other blocks sculptured with figures of animals in
alto-relievo. There were generally two figures on each block, and among
those which could be recognized were the dog and the lion. Doors opened
from the proscenium into the retiring-rooms of the actors, under which
were the vaults where the beasts were kept. A young fox or jackal started
from his siesta as we entered the theatre, and took refuge under the loose
blocks. Looking backwards through the stadium from the seats of the
theatre, we had a lovely view of the temple, standing out clear and bright
in the midst of the summer plain, with the snow-streaked summits of Murad
Dagh in the distance. It was a picture which I shall long remember. The
desolation of the magnificent ruins was made all the more impressive by
the silent, solitary air of the region around them.

Leaving Chavduer in the afternoon, we struck northward, down the valley of
the Rhyndacus, over tracts of rolling land, interspersed with groves of
cedar and pine. There were so many branch roads and crossings that we
could not fail to go wrong; and after two or three hours found ourselves
in the midst of a forest, on the broad top of a mountain, without any road
at all. There were some herdsmen tending their flocks near at hand, but
they could give us no satisfactory direction. We thereupon, took our own
course, and soon brought up on the brink of a precipice, overhanging a
deep valley. Away to the eastward we caught a glimpse of th